Outcasts
by BountyHuntress16
Summary: Bulma's high school experience is not what she expected. At least there's the requisite bad boy to help her through. -Bulma/Vegeta. For the "Sin Week" Prompt Challenge at Black and Blue. COMPLETE.-
1. Pride

A/N: Way back when DBZ was first on Cartoon Network, I was all about writing fanfiction for the show. I drifted away for awhile…and then found myself wanting to write for my old fandom again. Blame Hulu for airing the series again. And I was back to loving my original OTP, Bulma and Vegeta.

The Blue and Black community on Livejournal had a week of "Sin" prompts with the seven deadly sins as prompts. It was a good experience for me, having to churn out work without being able to obsessively re-write as I am prone to do. I hope you enjoy with what I came up with.

I don't own DBZ.

* * *

><p>Prompt: Pride<p>

As she is lying on the cold gray tile, her lunch tray and its lukewarm contents around her, Bulma knows she doesn't deserve this. Another 16-year old who decided to give public school a try before she goes to college next year might. But that girl isn't her.

She pushes herself up. There are three girls who could have tripped her. Cookie cutter brunettes who hissed at her blue hair and hot pink accessories the moment she arrived. (Whatever. She was not going to wear the dull school uniform without her own twist.) Bulma keeps her chin high even though red spaghetti sauce is across her chest like a wound.

There's a boy watching and Bulma's attention goes to him before she addresses the witches. He's that one boy, he of the brooding face and dark presence. The one the movies told her are in every classroom. . This one is named Vegeta. No one in this school has seemed interesting to her. Except him.

She was going to bitch the girls out but they're not worth it. And there's something about that boy that stills her tongue. Bulma doesn't want to embarrass herself in front of him.

Still, she can't walk away without a little Bulma Briefs touch. As she struts past, she flips them off. It is _this_ and not her being tripped up that catches a teacher's eye. Bulma ends up in detention.

The boy is there, feet propped up on the desk. There are a few other people in there but plenty of extra seats. She could go sit in an isolated corner and wait out the hour. Instead she approaches the chair beside him.

Her breath catches when she's in front of him. She might have saved face in the cafeteria just to humiliate herself now. But he's cute and the way his gaze flicks up from her stained shirt to her face makes her feel warm in the core of her stomach.

"Is this seat taken?" She asks.

Vegeta nudges the seat out with his foot. Bulma plops down into it and grins at him. Her parents won't be happy about the detention. She's probably going to be sentenced to public transportation for a week.

But Bulma feels like her first day of public school was a success.


	2. Wrath

A/N: Set two days after the first chapter. The timeline is a little jumpy. The story is a little vignette-esque. Or maybe I'm just trying to be fancy.

I don't own DBZ.

* * *

><p>Prompt: Wrath<p>

Bulma is unable to maintain her calm when her locker is trashed.

There's no evidence but she knows it's those three girls who poured coffee into her locker vents, who scrawled "whore" in neon pink across it. The teachers and the principal offer sympathy but will accept no accusations without proof. They suggest maybe she try to get along better with the others.

When the school day ends, Bulma is kicking the side of the building. It hurts her foot but she has to pulverize _something._ Vegeta stands nearby, arms folded, watching her rage.

"I thought bullying was only in middle school," she wails, more to the wall than Vegeta. That's what she heard anyway. She vows to never be swayed by TV again.

"Bullies are everywhere," Vegeta grunts. "Come here."

Bulma turns to him, her foot throbbing. He holds out his right palm. "Punch it."

"What?" Bulma frowns. "It's not you I'm pissed at."

"Just do it," he says, rolling his eyes. "Better for you to expend your anger now instead of dwelling on it during the ride home."

"Oh whatever, they ruined all my stuff. I'll dwell on it if I want to." She sticks his tongue out at him.

"You're a brat. No wonder they don't like you."

She slams her fist into his palm, hard as she can muster. Years of lifting machines and robots and heavy tools have given Bulma some muscle. But the skin on her knuckles stings when she makes contact.

The rush feels too good to stop though. She hits it again and again. The fourth time she misses and stumbles against him. Her cheek meets the solid wall of muscle she had only guessed lay beneath his uniform.

"I'm not a brat. Ass." she says to distract from her red cheeks. When she glances up at him, she sees a hint of red under his eyes too. Vegeta jerks back from her, turning away.

"They'll get their due," he says and walks towards the parking lot. When she doesn't follow he turns his head. "Are you coming or are you going to keep kicking the school?"

Bulma glares at him, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She makes him wait a few seconds before she nods and follows.


	3. Envy

A/N: Later in the week after the last chapter. Since it's an AU and Dragonball/Z/GT is a Japanese series, I put it in the country of origin. I do know some stuff about Japan's school system and customs but please forgive any inaccuracy.

I do not own DBZ

* * *

><p>Prompt: Envy<p>

Bulma hasn't gone back in the cafeteria. Partly to avoid further conflict. Mostly because her new friend and ride home from school eats on the roof. It's a lot of sitting without talk, dangling their feet over the building edge. And his stealing pieces of the bento her mother prepares every morning.

"Hey," she says, whacking at his chopsticks with hers. "Eat your own."

Vegeta looks at his lunch—store-bought onigiri—and then looks at hers. "You have plenty. Don't be a brat."

"If you keep stealing my food, I'm going to stop paying you gas money."

Vegeta lifts a dark eyebrow. "Then you'll get very good at walking home."

Bulma "humphs" and lets him take the octopus hot dog. It will be at least three days before she gets any capsule car, plane or bike back. Dr. Briefs hadn't been happy about the detention.

Her mother has put every item in the bento into a shape. There are rabbit onigiri, heart-shaped carrots, fanned celery. Everything is perfect and cheery and Bulma wonders if she would have gotten along better if she were more like Bunny Briefs.

No one seems to bother the nice girls at the school. Girls who spend the previous night cooking bento lunches for the boys they like. Girls who write their love on pastel stationary and slip the notes into a boy's locker. Girls who don't come in with grease on their fingernails. Girls who never raises their voice.

Bulma has always liked who she was. For the first time, she wonders if she should have become someone else before she came here.

She realizes that her friend has taken half of her teriyaki pork and jabs his side hard. "Come on Vegeta, I have to eat too."

"It looked like you were more occupied moping," he replies. Bulma sticks her tongue out at him and puts the box where he can't reach.

"I'm not. I just…" Bulma moves to stop his reach and starts to teeter off of the roof. Vegeta grabs her by the waist and jerks her to a steady position. She throws her arms around his neck for the extra support while her heart steadies. Whether the thrumming is from her near-fall or his touch…she doesn't know.

"Thanks," she mutters. A sensible girl would have left the edge and finished her lunch in the middle of the roof. Or inside, on the ground floor. And would have let go of a boy like Vegeta right away, blushing all the while.

Bulma is blushing but she doesn't move. Not until he grasps her elbows and detaches her from him.

"You're fine," he tells her. "Now bring that box over here."

"I almost died!" She turns her disappointment into rage.

"I saved your life."

"It's your fault I almost died in the first place."

They spend the rest of lunch period bickering and finishing the rest of the food. Bulma follows him down to his locker when the bell rings. (She's keeping her books in her backpack since her own locker was trashed.) Vegeta pauses their sniping long enough to enter his combination.

There are two envelopes inside, one light yellow, one soft pink. Bulma expects his to toss them out but he examines each before setting them back inside. He doesn't smile but…he doesn't seem disgusted either.

It occurs to Bulma that he never insults the other girls like he does her. TV would say that means he likes her but she's sworn off taking life lessons from cable. More likely, he isn't attracted to her. Not like she is to him.

She is quiet as they walk to classes.


	4. Sloth

A/N: Thank you for the nice reviews guys! This one is set right after "Envy"

* * *

><p>Prompt: Sloth<p>

Bulma does her best to shake off her doubts. Vegeta is her friend and reading too much into it will just break her heart later. Her father always says that she's too eager to jump into projects and adventures without taking stock of her surroundings.

But those two letters in the locker have fractured something in her. In her head, she constructed the idea that it was her and Vegeta against the rest of the school. Like they were heroes in a movie, fighting against the evil regime.

Except now that she is surveying the world around her, those dreams are crumbling. People don't speak to Vegeta, but that's because he's not a talker. And she's seen other boys mutters about him, but never to his face.

Everyone fears him. But every student respects or fears him enough to leave him alone. He's not fighting anything. Vegeta is the prince of this school.

So what does that make her? Her father and his employees might treat her with the same deference Vegeta gets, but school is a different place. Here, she's the commoner sidekick.

Bulma is loathe to go to school for the next few days. Her brain feels heavy and the rest of her body follows. Her mother allows her to skip two days in a row. The third day, Bunny Briefs decides to try being strict and sends her daughter off.

No one acknowledges her return. It's a nice treat after all the insults. The teachers accept the work she's made up at home and teach long, dry lessons that Bulma knows already. Vegeta isn't there either, which is a little blessing but is going to make for a lonely lunch hour. Maybe she'll find somewhere to hide and sleep.

_Right. Like that's safe here._

Bulma spends lunch on the roof, picking at her bento. It seems too much for one person to stomach. The sun is striking hard on her. It makes her go from feeling like a snail to feeling like a slug.

_This is so stupid_. Bulma Briefs does not get in a funk. So what if people liked (or at least feared) Vegeta more? Screw them. So what if she'd only be Vegeta's friend? Screw that too. She had better things to do then get hung up on wishing.

In this better mood Bulma decides to go back downstairs. But when she tries to open the door, it won't budge. It must be stuck. She yanks at it, digging her heels into the ground for support.

"Shit!" She starts to pound on the door, hollering for someone to open it. There is no response. Bulma yells as loud as she can, banging until her fists are numb.

Who knew she was up here? If Vegeta is so _known_ then people have to know he eats up here, and with her.

Which was exactly why, she realizes, someone knew to lock the door. But that means when the teachers wonder where she is, someone will come up for her, right? That's her only hope. Her cell phone is shut off and in her desk below. No one is outside to hear her pleas.

The hours pass and the sun disappears behind a heavy black cloud. It is sprinkling when Bulma sees students leaving the building. She shouts and waves her arms and jumps up and down until her throat is hoarse. Only a few look up and Bulma knows they see her. But they walk away as the sky splits open and rain falls in sheets. She keeps crying out for help until thunder rumbles around her.

Bulma runs to the door and presses her back to it. There is a slight overhang above it that keeps her half-dry. Lightning illuminates the sky and Bulma counts "one one-thousand" before the thunderclap crashes after. She just has to stay very still and the storm will be over soon.

The storm does end but another follows it, and another after that. Bulma can't move, first from fear and now from stiffness and cold. She's going to be stuck like this forever, until Vegeta comes up for lunch some day and finds her corpse. And make some snarky comment about liking how quiet death has made her.

She lets herself cry. If she dies up here, she deserves this last sob fest. Bulma hasn't thrown one complete tantrum since she enrolled at this damn school. Her parents have been thrilled that she is handling all her problems "so maturely."

Bulma gives into the tears, burying her face in her knees. She doesn't see the headlight of the black car that speeds into the parking lot and the sounds of rain and thunder block the squeal of tires. When the door opens and knocks her over, she yelps and scrambles backwards.

Vegeta swears and yanks Bulma to her feet, pulling her inside the building.

"You brat, what the hell are you doing out here?"

Bulma throws herself into his warm chest and doesn't let go.


	5. Lust

A/N: More awesome reviews to squee over. Thank you guys! This is…probably my favorite chapter of the seven. For reasons you will soon see.

I don't own DBZ.

* * *

><p>Prompt: Lust<p>

"Maybe we should consider letting you come back to home tutoring," Dr. Briefs says as he inhales his cigarette. His daughter had been happier, studying on her own while working in the Capsule Corporation labs. And it paid off. She is sixteen and ready to go to college.

"No," sniffs Bulma, clutching the fluffy blanket around her. Her voice is raw from the shouting and the cold. "I'm not running."

"Now Bulma, these girls who are teasing you…"

"No," she says again. This time she's found her usual volume. "I'm not letting them win. I'm going to go to school tomorrow and rub it in their faces."

Dr. Briefs sighs and stubs out his cigarette. His wife tops off everyone's mug of hot cocoa and asks Vegeta if he wants more to eat. He is Bunny Briefs' new hero and she keeps cooing over him. Bulma is sure she'll be bringing a bento made for Vegeta to school for the rest of the year.

Bulma's father sighs again. "Well…let's all go to bed. We'll discuss it in the morning. Vegeta, thank you again for finding our daughter."

Vegeta nods and shakes the hand her father offers. Her mother hugs him tight and Bulma giggles at his scowl. It feels good to laugh and smile, though she knows its spurred by her exhaustion.

"Are you coming up?" Her father asks.

"Yeah, let me just say goodbye to Vegeta," Bulma says, hugging both her parents. The adults exit the living room. Bulma tucks herself into the corner of the love seat she had perched on before.

"So…" She rubs her eyes, the lids feeling heavy and sore from disuse. "How did you know?"

"When your parents called, I assumed you'd been tricked again." Vegeta sits on the opposite end of the love seat. He's not a big person. But she feels like his presence is filling her space.

"Good thing I hadn't been kidnapped for ransom," she says with a laugh. "…Thank you Vegeta."

He folds his arms. "I just unlocked a door. Don't make a fuss over it."

"I'm going to." She sits up and inches towards him. When he doesn't recoil she moves closer, leaning her cheek against his arm. The moment she got home, her parents insisted she take a hot shower and put on her pajamas. She's still freezing.

Vegeta is warm and isn't pushing her away.

"What are you doing?" He asks, a slash of crimson brightening his cheeks.

"Making a fuss," she says and touches his face. It's burning under her palm. If she hadn't realized it was impossible before…she would think Vegeta was a little attracted to her.

Bulma is ready to feel brave after the ordeal on the roof. So she leans forward and presses her mouth against his. When she pulls back, Vegeta fists his hands in her hair and crushes her back to him. The kiss is rough and deep; Bulma feels it surge down to her toes.

Someone—her father—clears his throat. She leaps away from Vegeta, bumping around between the coffee table and couch. Vegeta wipes his mouth and stands, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I was leaving," he tells her father, who is staring at them both. He looks back at Bulma. She can't read his expression as well as she interpreted that sizzling kiss.

Then he smirks, eyes gleaming. She grabs the couch to steady herself. Vegeta snorts and walks past her father and out the door.

_Well. I guess TV was right about _some_ things._


	6. Gluttony

A/N: One more to go after this one!

I do not own DBZ.

* * *

><p>Prompt: Gluttony<p>

The next day Bulma has to think about the battle. Not about her stuffy nose. And not about the best kiss any boy has given her. Both are addling her senses when she has to face the witches.

Dr. Briefs tries to convince her to stay home, to consider finishing up high school with a tutor. He can't understand why she's such a glutton for punishment. Because he _isn't_ one, he stops trying to reason with his stubborn daughter.

Bulma had gone through a few ideas. She could punch one of the girls in the face. Maybe write "whore" in hot pink on her shirt the way they did to her locker as an "eff you." She could come in on Vegeta's arm so that everyone knows to back the hell off.

She does none of those things.

When she enters the main lobby, the three girls are waiting. Their predatory mouths pull back to reveal glinting teeth. Their eyes are glittering as she steps in and sniffles from the head cold.

"Such weather last night, Briefs-san." One of them purrs. "We heard you got caught in it."

There are twelve choice words she could fling at them. But Bulma decides that, just this once, she _will _act a little more like her mother.

"You know, I feel sorry for you three." Bulma smiles as their sinister expressions melt into confusion. Her cheeks protest from the great width of her grin. "Something terrible must be happening to you. I mean, that's why you've been acting so badly to me, right? You're lashing out."

They stare at her, mouths agape. For the first time, Bulma sees the fun in her mother's "kill them with kindness" philosophy.

"Listen," she says, trying to keep her smile from becoming _too_ mocking. "If you ever need to talk to anyone, you know where to find me. Good luck with your classes today."

Bulma waves and walks away. No replies follow. No glares. The three girls don't know what happened.

Maybe once in a great while, she can act like someone else. Just not long enough that she stops being her amazing self.

When lunch period comes, she goes up to the roof. If her "retaliation" didn't work, she might find herself locked out again. But Bulma wont back down, no matter how much her father shakes his head.

For a second she wonders if Vegeta will be there. He was in class…but he disappeared when the bell rang instead of waiting for her. Maybe he's too embarrassed to face her.

Bulma hefts the two bento boxes and pushes open the door with her knee. Vegeta is in his usual stance: arms folded and back facing her. She snorts and strides over to him.

"Here," she says, thrusting the bento at him. "Mom made this for you. Now you can't steal any of mine."

Vegeta accepts the box and unwraps the blue-checked cloth. Bulma taps her foot. _Why isn't he mentioning last night? He got to kiss me. That should have rocked his world._

He's taking too long opening his lunch, perusing the items her mother crafted for him. He doesn't eat anything, just examines. Her foot taps more, making a clacking sound against the roof.

Vegeta lifts an eyebrow at her but she can see the corner of his mouth twitching. Her stomach feels like hot coals have been dropped into it.

"Yes?" He asks. "What is it?"

Bulma huffs. "Is that all you have to say?"

Vegeta sits down on the edge and Bulma resists the urge to push him over. She slumps down next to him, crossing her arms the way he does. When he starts eating, she jabs him with her chopsticks.

"Yes?" He repeats.

"Well? Aren't you going to kiss me again?" Bulma demands.

Vegeta snorts but places his palm on the rooftop surface behind her and leans in. Bulma wants to flinch backwards but she meets him, forehead pressing to his.

"All you had to do was ask," he drawls.

"Oh you are so asking for it, buster."

Vegeta smirks. "Maybe I don't mind your 'it.'"

"We'll just see," she says, pulling him down by the collar to kiss her. He doesn't seem to mind the punishment at all.


	7. Greed

A/N: And here's the last part! Thanks for all the feedback!

I do not own DBZ.

* * *

><p>Prompt: Greed<p>

The withering looks and snide comments don't stop right away. But there are no more major incidents since Bulma has decided to be brutally nice to the witches. In a month they're so bewildered that they can only ignore her.

Others extend friendship to her. Bulma hesitates—none of these other students ever stood up for her. But she grew up surrounded by lab workers and thrives on attention. So she accepts their hellos and once in awhile, their invitations to eat with them in the cafeteria.

Vegeta joins them but only because Bulma has his lunch. He glowers as she eats up the attention. Her response to it is to kiss his cheek and calls him "Veggie." His disposition doesn't improve but he doesn't voice his complaints as much.

"Come on," she says one day. "Krillin is saving us a spot in the cafeteria."

He grumbles, "We sat there yesterday."

"Well you don't have to follow me," she replies, sticking her tongue out at him. Some of the witches pass by but only one bothers rolling her eyes at Bulma. The other two walk away before their former victim can talk to them.

"I only follow you for the food," he says, crossing his arms.

"Oh okay." Bulma smirks. "So if I just gave you your food and let you go eat alone, you'd be completely fine. I can just have a nice lunch with Krillin and Yamcha…"

"Tch. I don't share like that." He wraps his arm around her waist. It would have been cute if he didn't then haul her towards the roof. Bulma pounds her fist on his arm a few times before giving up.

It's not her charming dream prince carrying her to his white horse like movies had promised. But when he makes it to their destination and overwhelms her with a hard kiss, Bulma decides that reality is better.

It had a rocky start but Bulma knows her last year of high school will be a success.


End file.
